Portland Votes To Allow Legal Marijuana Delivery Services

The delivery of marijuana to a person’s door is not new. Marijuana has been delivered to people’s doors for decades, albeit in an illegal fashion. But that’s not to say that there aren’t legal companies delivering marijuana too. Marijuana delivery services have been a part of California’s industry for quite some time. When I attended my first Cannabis Cup in Los Angeles in 2012, I was provided advertisements for several marijuana delivery services. Some of them were standalone delivery services, while others were dispensaries that offered delivery.

But those companies operated in grey areas, many of which I think have since packed it up and moved on to other entrepreneurial endeavors. Portland, Oregon voted last night and approved what I think is a first of its kind policy change. Whereas marijuana delivery services have been operating in Portland for awhile now similar to services in California, they are now going to be 100% legal, assuming all of their other licensing is in a row. Per OregonLive:

Portland on Wednesday blessed “marijuana couriers” and other pot-related “micro” business types in a move to ease financial barriers for entrepreneurs.

The council voted unanimously to immediately adopt the additions and other changes to the city’s marijuana code.

“Since the state regulations keep changing and the industry keep flourishing, we’ll be coming back with multiple changes I’m sure,” Commissioner Amanda Fritz said. “I look forward to that time.”

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this plays out. Portland is the only city in Oregon that is going to allow this, and I’ll be curious to see what the State of Oregon has to say about it. With that being said, it wouldn’t be the first time that the City of Portland went its own way and basically told the State to kick rocks. I will also be curious to see how this is received by established dispensaries. From what I understand, this means that businesses can be in the delivery business, but not the storefront side of things.

If that is the case, I’d expect some tensions to grow between delivery services that I assume will grow very quickly, and more established businesses that have fought very hard to gain a foothold in the Portland market. From a purly consumer standpoint, this is a big win! People like my good friend Randy will now never have to leave the house!

Johnny Green is a cannabis activist from Oregon. Johnny has a bachelor's degree in public policy, and believes that the message should always be more important than the messenger. #LegalizeIt #FreeThePlant